Doctors Argue That Female Genital Mutilation Is Protected Under First Amendment
Two doctors in Detroit, along with one of their wives, are about to take the first religious defense of female genital mutilation to a US Federal court. The case stems from a FBI investigation into Dr. Jumana Nagarwala after the authorities received a tip that the physician was performing the procedure on young girls.
According to the original criminal complaint, the investigation revealed that Nagarwala allegedly performed FGM on two seven-year-old Jane Does, who had travelled from Minnesota with their families. When interviewed by the FBI, one girl said her parents told her she was going Detroit, along with the other child, for a “special girls’ trip.” After they arrived at the hotel, the girls said their parents took them to the doctor “to get the germs out” of their stomachs. One of the girls described what happened at the clinic, after she took off her pants and underwear, as a “pinch” on “the place [where] she goes pee.” The other unnamed girl said that after she took off her pants and underwear she “got a shot,” and then could barely walk.
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